As I belatedly (yes, late again) look back over the gaming diary (I don’t actually have one of these) I realise that November was rather dry. Barren almost, an arid desert of a gaming timetable.
Hmm…interesting. I was sure I had a game on the coffee table most evenings. But no, few games were logged.
How can this be?
Was it an inevitable response to the horrible torment of real-life gaming being taken away (again, and so soon)? Was it simply a case of…
Needing.
A.
Break…?
Wait…what?
A break from gaming? How could those words formed into a single sentence possibly make any sense?
Stranger things have happened, I guess.
Speaking of which; binge watching all three seasons of the Stephen King-lite ‘spooky goings on in a small-town’ straight to streaming hit probably didn’t help the gaming planner’s moisture levels.
Curse you, Well Known Streaming Service!
Nevertheless, despite the best efforts of the Upside Down I did get a few games in.
On the Coffee Table
Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea
I hear inexplicably mixed things about ACIS. Some seem to love it, some apparently don’t.
I guess some don’t like historically themed rather than historically accurate civilisation building games; while others may not feel that a ‘peaceful’ game involves decimating entire cities with god-like impunity.
Me, I’m a huge fan of building pyramids in Troy and conquering Gaul with volcanoes. So much so that I played ACIS twice during November.
Ah…another possible reason for the dry spell. It can run a bit on the ‘Epic’ side can ACIS.
Looking forward to the follow up set in the Middle East. I just hope they split the solitaire rules from the multi-player a la SpaceCorp. Much easier to navigate.
Invaders from Dimension X
I had unrealistically high hopes for this, the first game in the Dimension X series. A series which features my all-time favourite solo game, Attack of the 50ft Colossi, amongst its numbers.
And…I was not disappointed.
In fact, I played Invaders no less than four times during November. Yet another reason for the apparent dry patch?
Despite being in the same series, Invaders plays completely differently to Colossi, sharing instead a relatively short play time and a tongue in cheek approach to wargaming.
It’s a wildly, and deliberately, random B-Movie of a game about fighting an unknowable alien menace.
Great fun.
In Real Life
…(sob)
On the Interwebs
Spent a lot of time online but little of it playing games. Most of the gaming time was spent playtesting a game I am attempting to design and assisting a friend with his design.
Further reasons for a dehydrated gaming month?
More on my own game at a later date (maybe), but for now, here is my Xmas gaming wish list to fill space in this article.
Tru’ng (Fire in the Lake solo expansion)
The Wars of Marcus Aurelius
The Gallerist
Sunset Over Water
Gaming Diary Rehydration Powder
Battle Hymn Vol 2
On The Tube
Stats time!
And…the viewing figures of the fledgling Diagonal Move YouTube Channel are a puzzle to me, The peaks and troughs (daily views ranging 16 – 106) of the analytics graphs appearing to have much in common with the unknowable randomness of the Kay’otz of Invaders from Dimension X.
There is probably a deeply complex algorithm somewhere that explains these fluctuations in view numbers, impressions, watch time, and multitude of other ‘must track’ stats.
Some great sage probably has 10 jubillion views for a video explaining it all. 30 jubillion if they stub their toe halfway through. Exponentially more if the video features a cat.
My own thoughts on this most perplexing of topics are best surmised in the following and, dare I say, profound statement:
“Huh? I wonder what’s on Well Known Streaming Service”
Coming Next Month
Tons of good stuff (right? Right?) including but not limited to:
- An interview with Automa Factory founder Morten Monrad Pederson
- Shores of Tripoli unboxing & hopefully playthrough video (review copy courtesy of designer Kevin Bertram)
- Video playthrough of Invaders from Dimension X
By the time I finally post this article the above might have been from last month.
Anyway.
Until next time…happy gaming!
